Former Presidential Candidate Seeks Stringent Penalties against Vote Buying

Chuks Okocha in Abuja 

Former presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Chief Albert Owuru has canvassed for stringent punishment against act of vote buying. 

Owuru made the call at the public president of his books titled: “A New Africa’ and the 18 Laws of Ballot Revolution” in Abuja yesterday. 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said politicians are buying Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from registered voters. 

According to INEC, the move is to harvest their Voter Identification Numbers (VIN) ahead of the 2023 general elections. 

The electoral body, however, cautioned politicians, unsuspecting and criminal Nigerians of the act, reiterating that no person will vote on election days without PVC. 

While describing the act as inhumane, Owuru said that stringent penalty would serve as a deterrent to others. 

According to him, people need more sensitisation to understand the sanctity of the ballot they have. 

“That INEC material appears to be a mere paper. But on  the election day, that is the ballot that qualifies you as a citizen to speak. That is your voice and what you have to use in determining who rules over you. 

“So, you do not give out that power you have. You don’t sell it and the law must be made to provide stiff penalty such as life imprisonment. If you buy or sell your vote you have erased yourself as a citizen.

 “It is worse than armed robbery because the power to elect who rules you and who governs you, manages your resources is so important that you cannot just be singing it that you want to sell your vote. 

“If you sell your vote and you are caught you go to life imprisonment. Let people understand that it is a crime against humanity, against themselves and against the country,’’ Owuru said. 

He, however, said that the desire to give elections in Africa a new meaning and purpose inspired him to write the book `The 18 Laws of Ballot Revolution’. 

He explained that book draws attention “to the threat of an adulterated democratic election as now instituted by emerging institutional cabal controlled elections in many developing democracies in Africa. 

“It is important to overcome the menace of a cabal elections that seek to replace the past white colonial experience that had retarded the life, development and advancement of these countries in the modern day and time,’’ he said. 

Similarly, Owuru said that the book “A New Africa’ brings to focus the new economic idea of communal and wealth redistribution indigenous to Africa.